Viacom CEO to be deposed on Sumner Redstone’s health

A Manhattan judge said Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman must submit to a legal grilling about the health and mental capacity of the company’s former chairman, 92-year-old Viacom founder Sumner Redstone.

Dauman had fought the subpoena by Redstone’s ex-girlfriend, Manuela Herzer, 50, who is trying to prove that the ailing media mogul was too sick to make a decision that removed her as his health-care proxy last fall.

On Oct. 16, 2015, Redstone signed a document that put Dauman in charge of his medical care.

Dauman’s lawyer, Les Fagen, told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Kathryn Freed that “Ms. Herzer is not interested in being a health-care proxy, she’s interested in receiving some of Mr. Redstone’s money.”

Herzer’s lawyer, Lawrence Rosentock, called the allegation “hotly disputed.”

He added that a deposition was crucial to determine “Mr. Redstone’s state of mind” around the time that he kicked Herzer to the curb.

Justice Freed limited the deposition’s scope to questions about conversations Dauman had with Redstone on Oct. 8, 2015 and Nov., 3, 2015 — around the time he signed the new medical directive.

The judge said Herzer’s lawyers could ask Dauman if he discussed the finances of Viacom and CBS with Redstone but Dauman did not have to disclose “amounts’ or “specifics” about those conversations.

“I don’t want him giving away corporate secrets or corporate finances, just the fact that he expressed an opinion on it or gave certain analysis,” the judge said.

Judge Freed agreed to a request by Dauman’s lawyer to seal the deposition, which she said should happen within the next 30 days.

Rosenstock said his client will request an expedited trial on the health care proxy. The trial could could start as early as the end of March, he said.

Redstone lives in Los Angeles, where Herzer filed the case contesting his health-care agent change.

Dauman moved to quash the subpoena in New York, where he lives and runs Viacom. Redstone, who can barely speak, resigned as chairman of the media conglomerate earlier this month.